Confession: I used AI to write My Home Office Hacks
AI will not replace me! For the paying folks, an affordable way to convert your recliner into a workstation.
I tried it with the last My Home Office Hacks lead story. Here’s what it sounded like:
From “are you kidding me?” to 18 months of protection: my not‑so‑secret McAfee hack
Monday morning: coffee brewed, Zoom links copied, cat curled up on my keyboard. I opened my email and noticed the annual McAfee auto-renewal notice. $159 for my security suite? Fine. But there was a second line item: $64 for something called PC Booster. Wait, what?
I’d only just bought PC Booster a few months ago for $37. This wasn’t some fancy espresso machine; it was an add‑on to make my computer run faster. According to McAfee’s own product page, their PC Optimizer (a close cousin to PC Booster) is designed to:
Clean up and speed up your PC – McAfee says it can boost performance “up to 89% faster”
Free up space by removing junk files, unneeded programs and temporary files
Improve PC speed by shutting down unnecessary background processes
Browse & stream faster by freeing up bandwidth
Give you an on‑demand boost by temporarily turning off background services
It’s a separate subscription, not part of McAfee’s main security package. Great features, but I was not in the mood to pay nearly double what I’d paid months earlier, especially when there’s a new season of The Bear to binge.
The call: from cancellation to “what have I done?”
So I did what any self‑respecting remote worker would do. I took a deep breath, dialed McAfee support and braced myself for hold music.
“Hello, thanks for calling McAfee!” chirped the agent (let’s call her Karen, because every good story has one). I explained my confusion. She explained that the PC Booster subscription was renewed because auto-renewal was turned on. I asked to cancel.
Here’s where things took an unexpected turn. Karen didn’t try to sell me an NFT or subscribe me to a new streaming service. She calmly looked at my account, then suggested:
“What if I extend both your McAfee protection and PC Booster for 18 months at a discounted rate?”
Cue the record scratch. Suddenly, I was listening to numbers that made sense. Instead of paying $159 plus $64 every 12 months, I’d get both products for 18 months at a price closer to my original total. I’d also avoid another charge next year. It was the Chuck Norris‑roundhouse‑kick of support calls — effective and oddly satisfying.
Why I said yes (and why you might too)
The cost per month was lower. Dividing the new total by 18 months brought the cost down vs. paying separately every year.
I actually use PC Booster. My computer has more tabs open than a bartender on a Friday night. An on‑demand speed boost and junk‑file cleanup are handy.
It’s still a separate subscription. Knowing that PC Booster (or PC Optimizer) is a standalone product made it easier to justify bundling it — at least I wasn’t paying twice for the same thing.
Could I have cancelled and shopped around for a cheaper antivirus? Sure. But part of the “home office hack” ethos is acknowledging that time is as valuable as money. Spending 30 minutes on hold to save a few dollars can sometimes cost more in terms of sanity.
Takeaway: a few subscription hacks
Check your auto‑renewals regularly. Companies rely on us forgetting. Put a calendar reminder one month before a subscription is due.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate. As my support call shows, polite questions can lead to discounts.
Decide if the add‑on is worth it. McAfee’s PC Booster/Optimizer can free up space, improve speed and give you an on‑demand performance boost--but it’s a separate subscription. If you’re happy manually cleaning files or using free tools, cancel it.
Share your experience. D’Eramo’s newsletter thrives on reader tips and feedback. If you’ve ever been upsold on a subscription you didn’t know you needed, or you’ve got a killer trick for managing auto‑renewals, hit reply and spill the beans. After all, a virtual water cooler is only as good as the conversations happening around it.
Why it matters
Here’s what I wrote after seeing Chat GPT’s attempt at My HOH,
Going deeper
If you had never read My Home Office Hacks, you might not think the first version was so bad. Yet for most of you, the reason you subscribe to My Home Office Hacks is because you’ve read my stuff and you like the style and content. Usually. Interestingly enough, with four years’ worth of content to sample, ChatGPT still couldn’t do me.
Thank God!
That’s not to say you won’t see some AI-generated images here and there in My Home Office Hacks. I confess to messing around with a possible new logo (see below). And I may use it for research. Yet when it comes to the writing, you get me
You lucky people.
“Oh, my eyes! My eyes!”
That’s what you won’t say when using BenQ ScreenBar Pro LED Monitor Light. Check it out.
Monday morning vibe: Jukebox Hero, Foreigner
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